Project Overview:
Réunion Island’s thermal power plant used a combination of
KPS and
Fibrelite products to overcome many issues including a tight installation schedule, the complexity of a narrow site and harsh weather conditions.
Problem:
The thermal power plant generator turbine uses diesel and ethanol, the switch between these two fuels is quite complex and the process must be followed carefully. The challenge was to use pipes that have low head losses and are compatible with both fuels. Due to ethanol’s potential to generate charge, it requires the highest possible level of safety.
The site is quite narrow (narrow plot stretching lengthwise) and the different contractors: civil construction, piping, turbine installers, and similar needed to work as quickly as possible to avoid blocking the site and slowing the build schedule. Réunion Island is also prone to hurricane and tropical heavy rains, meaning the sumps needed to be completely liquid tight.
Solution:
KPS piping ensured a compact solution, allowing an excellent ratio between effective diameter of fuel passage and compact external diameter, limiting the required size of the trenches. KPS’ electrostatically safe conductive piping was used to provide the highest possible level of safety for the Ethanol’s potential to generate charge.
The installer-friendly fittings (KPS double-wall fittings require less welds than any other system) saved a substantial amount of time during installation, whilst Fibrelite’s vacuum-tested sumps proved the perfect solution as the only truly liquid-tight solutions available. A full training session was performed on site by a KPS / Fibrelite certified trainer in order to ensure a high-quality installation.
Result:OPW provided a compact solution combining KPS piping and Fibrelite sumps, which fit perfectly in the narrow site configuration within a tight timeframe, including a full certified onsite training session ensuring a high-quality installation.
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